Welcome to Week 3 Day 16 of our 4 Week Workout Program.

This is our sixteenth day of our training program, which means that you are more than half way there! How do you feel? Are you super sore from yesterday? I could barely get up from bed this morning, my butt and legs were so sore. Those 30 second active rests I’ve been doing in between sets, using glute band exercises (read yesterday’s workout to learn more), have done me over…I’m hurting so good.

Hope you’re loving this new health routine! I absolutely love living this way; getting up early, drinking my go-to protein smoothie, going to the gym at around 8:30am (there’s hardly anyone there at this time, which is why I chose to go then), coming back home, getting a nourishing meal in, and then hitting all of my to-do’s to take the day by storm.

To make my gym sessions fun, I like to do stick with a few things that I know work for me:

1. Go with a workout buddy whenever possible
2. Bring my wireless headphones + turn up my favorite tunes
3. Go at a time where there’s the least amount of people to avoid waiting for equipment to become available
4. Wear cute gym outfits + comfy shoes
5. Remain focused to make my workouts efficient (no wasted time)

These things help me and keep me motivated every single workout day. Of course, some days I am tired and my motivations lacks a bit…but I still show up. And after my quick 5 minute warm-up, my energy is boosted again and I feel so thankful for making the decision to go. Showing up is 50% of the challenge, so on those days when you feel tired and unmotivated, just show up. You’ll see how it gets easier once you’re there. Or…just send me a quick Instagram DM and I’ll be sure to cheer you on.

For today’s workout, since it’s back-training day and we personally can’t really see our muscles flexing, an important thing to focus on is the Mind-Muscle Connection (MMC).

Movement is controlled by our brain, and the first step towards muscle contraction is a signal sent by our brain to our muscles telling them to contract. The MMC occurs at the “neuromuscular junction”, where mind meets body. Our brain releases a neurotransmitter to communicate with our muscles, and when that neurotransmitter is released and it crosses the space that separates the nerve from the muscle, muscle contracts.

The more we can improve this communication, the more muscle fibers we will activate. A single muscle head is made up of many individual muscle fibers, and so, by improving our MMC we’re actually increasing the number of muscle fibers being activated. This results in a better quality muscle contraction and a better workout. Try to not let your mind wonder at the gym, and instead, allow your brain to focus on every lift you do. This will dramatically improve your workouts. Try it.

Today we’re going to be doing:

• Bent Over Barbell Row
• Bent Over Dumbbell Row
• Seated Cable Row
• Rope Straight Arm Pulldown
• Standing Biceps Cable Curl
• Cable Preacher Curl
• Plate Curls
• Optional: Tabata (aka HIIT cardio)

Below you can find the number of sets and each exercise’s description.

BENT OVER BARBELL ROW

2 warm-up sets, 3 sets of 12 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Holding a barbell with a pronated grip (palms facing down), bend your knees slightly and bring your torso forward, by bending at the waist, while keeping the back straight until it is almost parallel to the floor. Tip: Make sure that you keep your head up; the barbell should hang directly in front of you as your arms hang perpendicular to the floor and your torso. This is your starting position.
2. Now, while keeping the torso stationary, breathe out and lift the barbell to you. Keep the elbows close to the body and only use the forearms to hold the weight. At the top contracted position, squeeze the back muscles and hold for a brief pause.
3. Then inhale and slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position.
4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

BENT OVER DUMBBELL ROW

3 sets of 12 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. With a dumbbell in each hand (palms facing your torso), bend your knees slightly and bring your torso forward by bending at the waist; as you bend make sure to keep your back straight until it is almost parallel to the floor. Tip: Make sure that you keep your head up; the weights should hang directly in front of you as your arms hang perpendicular to the floor and your torso. This is your starting position.
2. While keeping the torso stationary, lift the dumbbells to your side (as you breathe out), keeping the elbows close to the body (do not exert any force with the forearm other than holding the weights). On the top contracted position, squeeze the back muscles and hold for a second.
3. Slowly lower the weight again to the starting position as you inhale.
4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

SEATED CABLE ROW

3 sets of 12 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. For this exercise you will need access to a low pulley row machine with a V-bar. Note: The V-bar will enable you to have a neutral grip where the palms of your hands face each other. To get into the starting position, first sit down on the machine and place your feet on the front platform or crossbar provided making sure that your knees are slightly bent and not locked.
2. Lean over as you keep the natural alignment of your back and grab the V-bar handles.
3. With your arms extended pull back until your torso is at a 90-degree angle from your legs. Your back should be slightly arched and your chest should be sticking out. You should be feeling a nice stretch on your lats as you hold the bar in front of you. This is the starting position of the exercise.
4. Keeping the torso stationary, pull the handles back towards your torso while keeping the arms close to it until you touch the abdominals. Breathe out as you perform that movement. At that point you should be squeezing your back muscles hard. Hold that contraction for a second and slowly go back to the original position while breathing in.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

ROPE STRAIGHT-ARM PULLDOWN

4 sets of 12 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Attach a rope to a high pulley and make your weight selection. Stand a couple feet back from the pulley with your feet staggered and take the rope with both hands. Lean forward from the hip, keeping your back straight, with your arms extended up in front of you. This will be your starting position.
2. Keeping your arms straight, extend the shoulder to pull the rope down to your thighs.
3. Pause at the bottom of the motion, squeezing your lats.
4. Return to the starting position without allowing the weight to fully rest on the stack.

STANDING BICEPS CABLE CURL

3 sets of 12 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Stand up with your torso upright while holding a cable curl bar that is attached to a low pulley. Grab the cable bar at shoulder width and keep the elbows close to the torso. The palm of your hands should be facing up. This will be your starting position.
2. While holding the upper arms stationary, curl the weights while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. Only the forearms should move. Continue the movement until your biceps are fully contracted and the bar is at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a second as you squeeze the muscle.
3. Slowly begin to bring the curl bar back to starting position as your breathe in.
4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

CABLE PREACHER CURL

3 sets of 12 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Place a preacher bench about 2 feet in front of a pulley machine.
2. Attach a straight bar to the low pulley.
3. Sit at the preacher bench with your elbow and upper arms firmly on top of the bench pad and have someone hand you the bar from the low pulley.
4. Grab the bar and fully extend your arms on top of the preacher bench pad. This will be your starting position.
5. Now start pilling the weight up towards your shoulders and squeeze the biceps hard at the top of the movement. Exhale as you perform this motion. Also, hold for a second at the top.
6. Now slowly lower the weight to the starting position.
7. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

PLATE CURLS

4 sets of 12 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Start by standing straight with a weighted plate held by both hands and arms fully extended. For the best results, grab the weighted plate at 3:00 and 9:00 o’clock position.
2. Your feet should be shoulder width apart from each other and the weighted plate at your thighs. This is the starting position.
3. Slowly lift the plate up while keeping the elbows in and the upper arms stationary until your biceps and forearms touch while exhaling. The plate should be evenly aligned with your torso at this point.
4. Feel the contraction for a second and begin to lower the weight back down to the starting position while inhaling
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

OPTIONAL (but recommended)

4 minutes of Tabata to finish it off strong.

 

IMPORTANT: You’ll notice that I recommend doing a quick 30 second active rest in between each of the sets. This is to keep your heart rate up at all times. I recommend switch up your active rest movements with every exercise you do, just to keep it from getting monotonous and to allow for different muscles to be worked. Some of my favorite active rest movements include: kettle bell swings, air squats, lunges, jumps and running in place. Get creative, but try to not use the muscle groups you are actually using on your lifting exercises, so that those are ready to go when the 30 seconds are up.

 

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Other Workouts You’ll Love:

• 4 Week Workout Program
• Tabata Training
• 7 Exercises to Get Killer Abs That Will Make You Proud

 

Disclaimer: I am a certified personal trainer, however, since I won’t be there with you physically to check on proper form and weight selection, do these workouts at your own risk. You should consult your physician or other health care professional before starting this or any other fitness program to determine if it is right for your needs.